Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican Congressman from Texas, medical doctor, and military veteran who believes in liberty, freedom, and personal responsibility.
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

After the recent Boston Marathon explosions, the suspects went out and partied with their friends. Police then locked down parts of the city and brought in military-style weapons. After not being able to locate the one live suspect, the police left the area and lifted the lockdown. Thirty minutes later a homeowner found the live suspect hiding in a boat in a homeowner's yard. The homeowner called the police, who proceeded to unleash flash grenades and shot up the boat and house. The suspect was unarmed.

Ron Paul commented on the military style occupation:In an article called “Liberty Was Also Attacked in Boston”, the former Republican representative and two-time presidential candidate compares the intense April 19 search for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to “scenes from a military coup in a far off banana republic.”

“The Boston bombing provided the opportunity for the government to turn what should have been a police investigation into a military-style occupation of an American city,” Paul writes. “This unprecedented move should frighten us as much or more than the attack itself.”

“Once the government decides that its role is to keep us safe, whether economically or physically, they can only do so by taking away our liberties,” Paul writes. “That is what happened in Boston.”

Some people will say the police were justified in using military style weapons and locking down parts of the city. These tactics were ineffective, as the police did not find the suspect. While suspending resident's rights of free movement, the police proved their tactics did not work. Therefore we should not allow the police to violate our rights while flashing their shiny combat weapons in our neighborhoods.